Following a meeting of service chiefs a month earlier, Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal issues a memo that will come to be known as the “Key West Agreement” that defines the role and responsibilities of the services. The memo assigns the primary responsibility for air defense of the United States to the Air Force.
As L3Harris proves its OA-1K Skyraider II special operations aircraft can carry a signals intelligence sensor and electronic attack weapon, a key congressional committee is poised to boost production of the converted Air Tractor prop plane.